Television lamp



May 29, 1956 w. J. M CREA TELEVISION LAMP Filed June 4, 1951 INVENTOR WILLIAM J. MCRE ATT. RNEY United States Patent '6 TELEVISION LAMP William J. -McCrea, Wilmington, De].

Application June 4, 1951, Serial No. 229,807

'1 Claim. (Cl. 240-81) This invention relates to a specially designed lamp adapted for use on or in,association with a television receiving set and more particularly relates to a lamp which is adapted to providea special type of illumination and distribution of light at and adjacent to a television receiving set.

It is well recognized that it is undesirable to view the screen of a television receiving set in a dark room. This has been found to have disadvantageous effects upon the eyes and the nervous system of the viewers. It has not been very satisfactory to provide merely any available type illumination in the room in which the television receiving set is located and such random types of illuminationare frequently almost as injurious asno illumination at all. gr eatly from the value and utility of the television receiv- ..'ing set and, consequently, it has been somewhat of a problem to provide the right type and amount .of Qillumination while a television receiving set is in operation.

Excessive room illumination detracts One of the objects of the present invention is to provide for the first time a specially designed television lamp adapted to be placed on or in association with a television receiving set and which provides the correct amount and distribution of auxiliary light.

Another object of the invention resides in a television lamp provided with a plurality of horizontally disposed, shelf-like, transparent, plastic members spaced above a base of similar material but of hexagonal shape, whereby the proper type and amount of auxiliary illumination is provided.

Other and further objects and advantages reside in the various combinations, sub-combinations and details hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a lamp embodying the present invention and Fig. 2 is a sectional view of one of the adjustable feet 3f the lamp base and the associated section of the lamp ase.

My new television lamp is preferably placed on top of a television receiving set the upper surface of which is indicated by the letters TV in Fig. 1 but, as will be hereinafter explained, the lamp may be placed upon any suitable surface whether flat or curved and means to be described are provided for maintaining the lamp in a firm horizontal position regardless of the configuration of the surface on which it is located.

The lamp is composed of a central cylindrical column or tubular member 10, the length of which can be varied as indicated by the broken-away portions. This member may be of any suitable diameter and material and may, for example, be composed of brass or glass, or a brass core surrounded by a glass cylinder. Member 10 has a tubular pipe or conduit 11 extending therethrough which contains the electrical wiring necessary for the purpose and the upper end of conduit 11 is provided with a suitable socket 12 into which the wiring (not visible) is connected in conventional manner, socket 12 being 2,748,262 Patented May 29, 1956 ICC provided with a suitableswitch 13-wherebythe illuminationinthe bulb '14 in'sockct -12 may be turned on or off at will.

Disposed upon the tubular member 10 are the spaced, transparent, synthetic plastic (Lucite) disks 15, 16 and 17, each of which is provided with beveled edges as indicated at 16 and 17. Members 15, 16 and 17 are not only spaced from one another, as shown, but the distance between them is predetermined so as to secure certain results to be hereinafter-set forth; moreover, the disks 15, 16 and 17 vary in diameter, becoming greater in diameter from top to bottom. The bottom disk 17 is mounted on member 10 above hexagonal, transparent, synthetic plastic (Lucite) base 18, into which the member 10 is connected-in any siutable way, as by threaded engagement or in any other suitable manner. Transparent, synthetic plastic (Lucite) 'base member 18 is also beveled as shown at 18, each ofthe plastic members being beveled from its upper and lower surfaces and terminating in a narrow band extending around the member. Disk 17 is 'spaced-above'base 1-8 a distance greater than that between disks 16 and 17. Disk 17 is also larger than disk which, in turn, is larger than disk 15. While transparent, colorless Lucite is preferred, it is understood that other transparent or translucent materials -may be employed which have suitable light distributing characteristics.

Hexagonal base 18 is supported by an adjustable foot at'each of the sixcorners thereof. Each such adjustable jfoot 'is made up of abrassor other suitable foot member 1-9-preferably of ball-shapewhich has a threaded-aperture 20 therein. 'Each ball-shaped, member terminates in a :fla-nge-like portion 21 'upon which base 18 rests, but I preferably-provide, as shown in Fig. 2,-a washer '22'between the foot member and the base member and this washer is preferably, but not necessarily, countersunk in the base member 18, as also shown in Fig. 2. Base 18 is provided with a plurality of apertures within which the upper ends of the rod-like screw members 24 are received and each foot member is provided with a pad 23 adhesively or otherwise secured in the position shown and composed of felt, rubber or the like, so as to avoid marring or scratching of the surface on which it rests. It will be clear that by turning any orali of the ballshaped members 19 in one direction or the other, the superjacent portion of the base 18 can be raised or lowered and that these raising and lowering operations can be carried out to different extents on the individual adjustable feet and, thus, the base can be placed upon a surface of any configuration and adjustment made so that base 18 is horizontal. Thus, for example, the lamp can be placed upon concave or convex or irregularly curved surfaces or upon articles of furniture while still enabling the lamp to be kept in its proper horizontal position.

The lower end of the conduit 11 terminates at the base 18 and may be provided with any suitable finishing joint desired from which the cord 25 extends. The cord 25 terminates in a conventional plug 26 adapted to be inserted in an outlet or other suitable source of electricity. The lamp is provided on its upper end with any suitable decorative or other frusto-conical shade 27, which is provided with any desired means, such as that illustrated at 28, to support the shade on the bulb 14.

It will be understood that during use the light from bulb 14 is largely reflected downwardly from the inside surfaces of shade 27 and that also some stray or random light will pass upwardly from the television viewing screen. The result due to the construction already described is that the light is picked up by the disks 15, 16 and 17 and to some extent also by base 18 and is distributed in such a manner as to provide a soft, relatively diifused, auxiliary illumination which has been found to be just that which is necessary and desirable for use with a television receiving set to avoid eye-strain, headaches and other adverse effects upon the observers. Due to the fact that the disks 15, 16 and 17 are of different sizes and that the spacing between them is unequal, a very effective auxiliary light distribution is produced. In addition, the Lucite or other transparent or translucent plastic members 15, 16, 17 and 18 acquire a soft glow and, due to the beveled edges, there is a reflective and somewhat luminescent effect which renders individual parts separately visible. This is additionally important because the base 18 and the disks 16 and 17, in particular, are so constructed that they can serve as shelves on which any desired articles of decorative or utilitarian nature can be placed. Thus, while viewing television and with my new lamp in operation, it is easy to take articles from the members 16, 17 and 18 or to place articles thereon or to have them sufficiently visible to avoid hitting them.

A lamp constructed as described has been found to be free from static electricity and magnetic forces which is frequently not the case with other lamps. In addition,

the spacing between the members 15, 16, 17 and 18 causes air insulation which prevents overheating and deleterious effects of heat especially upon plastic materials. The adjustable feet are of a size such that the space between the base and the surface on which the lamp rests will prevent dark spots or areas and glare, in which latter connection the foot supports are designed so as to round out the non-glare effect of the lamp.

'It is understood that the foregoing is illustrative and not limitative and that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention as defined by the appended claim. The lamp may be varied in its overall dimensions so that it can be relatively tall and slender or somewhat short and squat and this can be readily accomplished by shortening or lengthening the 4 central member 10 and/or by enlarging or reducing the sizes of the members 15, 16, 17 and 18. It is also to be understood that, instead of providing a switch on the socket as is shown, a switch may be provided at or adjacent the base, and this switch may be a small round type of switch known as the Levolier switch, which is mounted at a angle at the top edge of the base. I claim:

A television lamp comprising a base, a single column rising vertically therefrom, a source of illumination at the upper end of such column, a shade disposed around said source of illumination and deflecting light rays downwardly therefrom, and a set of substantially transparent, synthetic plastic disks axially mounted on said column in vertically spaced aligned relationship, the said disks picking up illumination from said source as directed downwardly by said shade and transmitting illumination to the peripheral edges of said disks, successive disks decreasing in diameter and in vertical spacing in an upward direction from the base toward the source of illumination and each disk being beveled to provide an edge of reduced thickness as compared with the thickness of the disk radially inwardly thereof, the said base being composed of the same material as the disks and being provided with means for adjustably supporting it in a horizontal position irrespective of the configuration of the surface on which the lamp is set.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kravitt Nov. 15, 

